We all knew that there would be games during the rebuild that would be starved of interest and flair, even from the eternally optimistic perspective of treasuring literally any positive thing a young player did. To that end, Matt Davidson homered, snapping a 10-game drought, and Tim Anderson turned some double plays. Otherwise, the White Sox (37-47) lost to the A's 7-4 amid a rough day for Mike Pelfrey. It was also probably the last time Hawk Harrelson will ever be cajoled into setting foot in the Oakland Coliseum. Take a page out of his book and just be glad that it is over.

***

1-5: The White Sox's season mark against the worst team in the American League, which is still the Oakland A's, despite the results of these games.

10: Consecutive White Sox games that have gone over three hours, which it became obvious this game would do about when Pelfrey surpassed 90 pitches in the third inning. As venerable BP South Side writer Frank Firke noted, the Sox have not played a sub-three hour game since they retired Mark Buehrle's number.

4.83: Average innings per start for Pelfrey this season, after being dragged down by 3 1/3 frames on 99 pitches Wednesday, his shortest start of the season. Pelfrey has been on a short leash by design as the Sox have been hesitant to try to grab much more than two turns through the lineup from the veteran, but this was a performance that would produce a quick hook regardless of the arrangement. Working out of a first-inning, runners-on-the-corners jam with a double play was a forgivable reason to rack up the pitch count, whereas a marathon third inning just to end in a two-out, two-run Bruce Maxwell double to left-center was less so.

15.9: Walk rate for Pelfrey over his last three starts. He needs to be an efficient, strike-pounding ground ball artist to be effective. He struggled to throw strikes instead.

13 feet per second (estimated): Rick Renteria's jog out to pull Pelfrey from the game after Jaycob Brugman's solo shot in the fourth. A temperate high-60s climate obviously allowed for some more calisthenics.

14.1: The Sox's league-worst caught stealing rate after the A's burned them for six swiped bags on Wednesday, four alone for Rajai Davis. They are also the only team in single digits for runners caught stealing on the season.

18: Home runs for Matt Davidson after his two-run, fifth-inning blast to dead center off A's starter Sonny Gray. Per Stats, Inc., this is the second-most home runs before the All-Star break by any White Sox rookie. Jose Abreu hitting 29 before the break in 2014 is the obvious title holder.

1: Times Avisail Garcia has reached base safely in his last 30 trips to the plate. He's still an AL All-Star, but he is very much in a bit of slump, or a BABIP regression, since he had a liner up the middle snagged away from him.

.259/.377/.565: Batting line for Todd Frazier since June 1, including nine home runs, after he belted a two-out, two-strike, two-run homer to left in the ninth inning. He has 16 for the season, he's taking walks, and surely someone would like him.

(Top photo: Stan Szeto/USA TODAY Sports)

By the way, if you enjoyed this story, please consider supporting us. Your support will help us continue to bring you
just the best sports coverage each day and remain ad-free - all for less than $5 per month. Support us now and get 20% off.

James Fegan is the lead writer and reporter on the White Sox for The Athletic Chicago. Previously James founded and served as Editor-in-Chief of BP South Side, and his work has appeared in Baseball Prospectus, ESPN SweetSpot, The Rock River Times and Athlete's Quarterly. Follow James on Twitter @JRFegan. If you liked this story, subscribe today for access to all of our ad-free content. Plans start at just $4.99 per month.